Trita Parsi talks about his book, Treacherous Alliance, which details the complicated political dealings of Iran, Israel, and the United States in the 1980s, 90s, and early 2000s. Most of us forget how closely aligned Israel and Iran were before Bush Jr. and Obama’s “redirection,” after which Iran is seen as the ultimate evil power in the Middle East. Discussed on the show: Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States Alliance of the periphery Iran–Contra...
2/8/19 Sheldon Richman on the FDA’s War on Tobacco, Part 3
Sheldon Richman joins the show for part three of his series on the FDA’s increasingly domineering control of tobacco products. Check out parts 1 and 2. Discussed on the show: “TGIF: The FDA’s Assault on Tobacco Consumers, Part 3” (The Libertarian Institute) “1/25/19 Sheldon Richman on the FDA’s War on Tobacco” (The Libertarian Institute) “2/1/19 Sheldon Richman on the FDA’s War on Tobacco, Part 2” (The Libertarian Institute) hobbynothabit.blog “Brazil (1985)” (IMDb) Sheldon Richman is the...
2/8/19 Muhammad Sahimi on Iran’s ‘Fake Opposition’
Muhammad Sahimi talks about the delicate state of Iranian politics and the necessity of avoiding war there. Discussed on the show: “Pompeo, Bolton, And Iran’s “Fake Opposition”” (LobeLog) Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Going to Tehran: Why America Must Accept the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Sahimi is a professor of chemical engineering at USC, Iranian expatriate, and expert on Iranian and U.S. foreign policy. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by...
2/8/19 Philip Weiss on the Democratic Split over Zionism
Philip Weiss talks about the opposing camps of the democratic party, one that’s close with the Zionist Israel lobby, and the other, younger one that views the plight of the Palestinians as a civil rights issue echoing America’s own. Most American Jews support a two state solution and equal rights for Palestinians, says Weiss, so it may be hard for liberal Zionists to continue winning political support in the future. Discussed on the show: “Pay No Attention to Tlaib and Omar, says Pelosi – But...
2/4/19 David Stockman on the Waning American Empire
David Stockman joins the show to talk about his new book, Peak Trump: The Undrainable Swamp And The Fantasy of MAGA. Stockman explains how the U.S. has painted itself into a corner with both its unwinnable wars in the middle east, and its unsustainable fiscal and monetary policy at home. Sooner or later, he says, Americans are going to pay the price for all of this. Discussed on the show: Peak Trump: The Undrainable Swamp And The Fantasy Of MAGA Iran–Contra affair “The Skeptics” (The National...
2/1/19 Jon Schwarz on Elliott Abrams’ Bloody History in Latin America
The Intercept’s Jon Schwarz joins the show to talk about Elliott Abrams, President Trump’s new pick as special envoy to Venezuela. Abrams comes from a long line of neocons with a history of supporting regime change, often resulting in massive civilian casualties and billions of U.S. dollars going to support human rights abusers beyond our borders. Schwarz fears Abrams has the same plan in mind for Venezuela. Discussed on the show: “Elliott Abrams Isn’t Going to Bring “Democracy” to Venezuela”...
2/1/19 Sheldon Richman on the FDA’s War on Tobacco, Part 2
Sheldon Richman comes on the show for part two of his series on the FDA’s recent moves to control tobacco products even more tightly. Not only is the agency allowed to regulate all products containing tobacco, they can now determine what constitutes a “tobacco product,” extending the definition to include things like pipes and non-tobacco nicotine replacements. Clearly, says Richman, this isn’t actually about getting people to stop smoking, because if they wanted that, they would embrace safer...
2/1/19 Eric Margolis on Pulling Troops out of Afghanistan
Eric Margolis joins the show to talk about President Trump’s apparent intentions to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. This idea has met with a surprising amount of pushback—somehow ending the war is seen as more shameful than the war itself. Scott and Margolis fear that no matter when the America leaves, whoever is responsible will get blamed for the inevitable chaos that ensues, just like Obama was blamed for removing troops from Iraq. There is no solution to this problem, says Margolis,...
2/1/19 Max Blumenthal on Trump’s ‘Presidential’ Posture Toward Venezuela
Scott interviews Max Blumenthal about the political unrest in Venezuela. Blumenthal explains how dangerous it is that there’s been a mostly positive, and bipartisan, response to President Trump’s comments about intervening there. Just like when he was bombing Syria, the mainstream media finally praises him for being “presidential”. But Blumenthal wants to know—how is this any different than Russia trying to interfere in our elections, which the political mainstream finds so abhorrent?...
2/1/19 Jason Hickel on the Crimes of British Colonialism
Jason Hickel discusses the history of British colonial rule in India and his new piece, “How Britain stole $45 trillion from India.” He explains the British government’s clever scheme: forcibly extract tax revenue from the people, use the money to buy goods from other parts of India, then export the goods back to England where they can be sold for a British profit. Thanks to English economic policy, about 60 million Indians died from famine—a tragedy to rival the Holocaust or Mao’s cultural...
2/1/19 Greg Palast on Avoiding Regime Change in Venezuela
Greg Palast explains the situation in Venezuela, where the Trump administration has recently been signaling for U.S.-backed regime change. Although the claim is that it’s the U.S.’s duty to support “democracy,” says Palast, the concern is really for Venezuelan oil. Major players like the Koch brothers need reliable access to Venezuela’s particular form of heavy crude oil, and the Maduro government doesn’t play ball the way the Saudis, for example, do. Now Maduro’s political opponent, Juan...
2/1/19 Bonnie Kristian on Why the US Military Should Get out of Somalia
Bonnie Kristian talks about her latest piece, “If Trump Isn’t Planning to Draw Down U.S. Intervention in Somalia, He Should Be.” She and Scott point out how President Trump often has good instincts on foreign policy, at times questioning what the U.S. is even doing in countries like Somalia, and yet other times he has no problem getting talked into more war by his generals and advisers. The hawks around him love to use the excuse that “we fight the terrorists over there so we don’t have to...
2/1/19 Tim Shorrock With the Latest on the Korean Peace Talks
Tim Shorrock joins the show for an update us on the Korean peace talks. President Trump recently claimed that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat, whereupon the mainstream media was quick to point out that Kim’s regime has not in fact agreed to denuclearize. But, as Shorrock explains, that’s not what Trump said at all—he was merely pointing out that the negotiations appear to be going in the direction of peace and diplomacy, such that the North is not a threat to the South or to the U.S....
2/1/19 Mandy Smithberger on the Arms Industry’s Revolving Door
Mandy Smithberger talks about the revolving door between politics and arms manufacturers, most recently manifested in President Trump’s appointment of Patrick Shanahan as acting secretary of defense. Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, has recused himself from issues directly involving Boeing, but as Smithberger points out, that doesn’t prevent him from promoting the interests of his former company, since he still has huge influence over the industry in general. His history with Boeing can...
1/25/19 Sheldon Richman on the FDA’s War on Tobacco
Sheldon Richman talks about his latest piece for the Libertarian Institute, TGIF: The FDA’s Assault on Tobacco Consumers, where he explores the latest government efforts to regulate every aspect of nicotine products. In addition to its control over products containing actual tobacco, the FDA is now claiming jurisdiction over e-cigarettes—which contain nicotine but not tobacco—and tobacco pipes themselves. Just like alcohol prohibition or the war on drugs, Richman says, making a substance...
